Darning-last



(No Model 0. H. SHAW. DARNING LAST.

No. 440.659. Patented Nov. 18, 1890.

WITNESSES: INVE Z 3:2 [fa/M improvemen t.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES II. SIIAIV, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK.

DARNlNG-LAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,659, dated November 18, 1890. Application filed December 6, 1889. Serial No. 332,841. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. SHAW, of Brooklyn, in Kings county and the State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Darning Blocks or Lasts, of which the following is a specification.

I will describe a darning block or last embodying myimprovement and then point out the novel features in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of a block or last embodying my Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side view of the same viewed from a position at right angles to that from which the View, Fig. 2, is taken. Fig. at is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 5 is a plan View of a hand-piece forming part of the block or last. Fig. 6 is a plan. view of the body-piece of the block or last. Fig. 7 is a plan view of a securing-piece.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates the body-piece of the block or last. It consists of a plate curved between its side edges a a and, as here shown, straight from near one end. a to near the other end a. At the ends are grooves or lines a. This body-piece may be made of sheet metal-as, for instance, sheetbrass plated or orna mented to suit the taste.

B designates asecuring-piece. As here shown, it consist-s of a plate corresponding approximately with the body-piece, except that it is slightly longer and wider, has its edges b b b b' bent forwardly, and is provided with a central hole I). The forwardlybent edges of the securing-piece surround the body-piece.

It is intended that a fabric to be darned shall be placed behind the body-piece and between it and the securing-piece, the function of the latter being to secure the fabric properly behind the body-piece. As itis desirable that there shall be no possibility of any relative rotary movement or turning between the body-piece and the securing-piece, these parts will preferably be made to interlock. The

forwardly-bent edges of the securing-piece may be sufiicient for this purpose. It will be seen that the bodypiece has at the rear a central externally screw-threaded boss or hub a This extends through the central hole of the securingpiece and is intended to enter a screw-threaded socket or nut, which will bear against the rear of the securing-piece and serve to clamp the securing-piece and body piece together. I have shown suchasocket or nut. It is in the present instance made to form part of a hand-piece having a neck portion 0, forming the not or socket, and a flange or extended portion 0 at the rear. This hand-piece may be made of metal, and the outer or forward extremity of its neck portion. 0 may be left plain or unthreaded, so as to facilitate the entrance into it of the boss or hub a of the body-piece.

Having described the COIISUHCtlOll of my block or last, I will explain the manner of using it. The body-piece is to be laid over the portion of fabric to be darned, with the securing piece behind it and interlocking with it. Both these parts will then be clamped together, in the present instance by means of the hand-piece. Then a needle supplied with thread will be passed through the fabric close to the first groove or line in one end as, for instance, the end a of the body-piece. The needle is then moved so as to carry the thread over the body-piece in line with this groove or line to the opposite groove or line at the other end a of the body-piece, where the needle is inserted through the adjacent part of the fabric and the thread drawn thro ugh. Then the needle is inserted through the fabric opposite the second groove or line in the end a of the body-piece. Next the needle will be moved to carry the thread over the body-piece in line with the said second groove or line, and at a point opposite the second groove or line in the end a of the bodypiece the needle is inserted through the ad jacent part of the fabric and drawn through. Now the needle is inserted in the fabric opposite the third groove or line in the end a of the body-piece. The thread is then carried over the body-piece, and this method of procedure is pursued until there are portions of thread extending over the body-piece in par allel positions from end to end and from side to side. This having been done, the needle is caught into the fabric adjacent to one of the before it passed over.

side edges of the bod y-piece and close to one of the ends of the latterasfor instance, adjacent to the side edge a and close to the end of. Then 1 itis passed across either above or below the firstof the series of parallel threads extending over the body-piece between the ends. I will assume that it is passed over the first of these threads. On this assumption it will be passed under the second thread, over the third, un der the forth, over the fifth, and so on throughout the series of threads. Then the needle and thread will be passed through the fabric close to the other side a of the body-piece. Next the needle and thread will be passed through the threads extending between the ends of the body-piece over those which before it passed under and under those which The thread laid in in this manner may be worked up close to the end a of the body-piece. The thread Will be i11- serted through the threads extending between the ends of the body-piece back and forth in the same manner as before. It maybe passed through the fabric each time it traverses between the sides of the body-piece, or it may be caught through the fabric only at other intervals, if desired. In this way a new fabric may be darned or Woven over the front of the body-piece. On the completion of this the securingpiece is detached from the body-piece,in the presentinstanceby unscrewing the hand-piece and lifting off the securingpiece. Then the portion of the fabric behind the new fabric darned or woven over the front of the body-piece is cut away sufficiently to allow the body-piece to be pulled back through it.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a darning block or last, the combination of asecuring-pi'ece having a perforation, a body-piece provided with lines or grooves in its edge and having a threaded boss orhub passing through the perforation in the secur ing-piece, and ahand-piece having a threaded socket to engage the boss or hub of the bodypiece, the said socket bearing against the securing-piece and serving to clamp the securing-piece and body-piece together when the socket is turned onto the boss or hub, substantially as specified.

2. In a darning block or last, the combination of a body-piece curved between its side edges and having its bent or rounded edges provided with grooves, a threaded boss extending from the body-piece, a securing-piece, between Which and the body-piece material is to be clamped, and a hand-piece having a threaded socket to engage the boss of the body-piece, the said hand-piece serving to clamp the securing-piece and body-piece together, substantially as specified.

CHARLES H. SHAWV.

Witnesses:

E. D. CAPRON, W. H. SAIGLAND. 

